


to dust

by aelescribe



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Gen, one-sided Pearl/Rose Quartz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-22 19:05:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3740137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelescribe/pseuds/aelescribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Pearl, help her,” Garnet insists, because of course, Pearl always knows what to do in these situations, she’s always so helpful, she’s always good at this, it’s not like she’s weak and foolish and pitiful for every thought running through her head right now.</p><p>Another scream. Amethyst’s cries grow louder. “Pearl!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	to dust

Pearl is clutching her hand so, so tight she fears of breaking it. But Rose’s hands are strong and firm, and she gives pearl’s a firm squeeze. So strong, just like her. She is so strong. Gritting her teeth in pain, eyes shut tight, only moments away from the end.

Amethyst rests at her hip, her hands grasping at Pearl’s arm like a clutch. She can feel her trembling. She wished she could console her, but she can barely keep herself from screaming right now.

On the other side of the bed, is Garnet and Rose’s husband, Greg. The way he looks at her, the way the tears gather in his eyes, it all infuriates her. But it isn’t her place to be angry. This is what Rose wants, right? She can’t be angry at anyone for that. She can’t disrespect her last wish.

Rose lets out a low groan, sweat beading her brow. “It’s time,” she says quietly. She swallows heavily and looks at them all. Pearl stiffens when their eyes meet, and the tears that she tried to keep in finally start to bubble over.

She starts really crying, really hard. She thinks it’s pathetic. Everyone else is strong. Rose is strong. They’re all strong, so much stronger than her. But she can’t stifle her sadness or her sobs and she keeps crying, burying her face in Rose’s beautiful pink curls.

A few moments later, a hand on her shoulder guides her away. Garnet pulls her back slowly, so as not to startle her. She leans down and gives Rose a kiss on her temple. Rose is silent, then her face breaks out into a wide smile.

She turns to Greg. “You can do this, Greg,” she says softly. “You’re going to be an amazing father. Steven will love you.”

“S-Steven,” he repeats quietly. “That’s what you want to call him? I’m partial to Greg Jr., to be honest. Kind of a deal breaker.”

Rose laughs a beautiful laugh, and a smile stretches across her pained, beautiful face.

Pearl’s scream gets stuck in her throat.

Garnet grabs Pearl and Amethyst the gently by the hands and pull them away from the bed. Their footsteps echo loudly in the silence. Every step she takes feels heavier and heavier, the weight of the situation dragging her further and further down.

“I love you all so much,” Rose calls after them. “Don’t forget why we fought… What we fought for. Don’t ever forget that.”

They are outside the house, now.

Garnet slumps against the door, motionless, sans the shaking of her shoulders. Amethyst is curled into herself, clutching at her hair with wide eyes.

Pearl is leaning against the railing all too nonchalantly. Her vice grip on the beams splinters her skin. She doesn’t care. All she can focus on are Rose’s groans and grunts of pain and the reassurances from her encouraging husband. She thinks about Rose’s words.

What Pearl fought for wasn’t Earth, or the humans, or any noble cause that was shared by her other Gem comrades. She had fought simply for Rose and because Rose asked her to. Now that Rose was leaving, what other purpose was there for her on Earth?

She was a weak fool.

A loud scream pierces the air. Amethyst whimpers and grasps her hair tighter, tighter, until she’s ripped out entire fistfuls. “Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeistop-” She starts to hyperventilate, thick tears dripping down her face.

“Pearl, help her,” Garnet insists, because of course, Pearl always knows what to do in these situations, she’s always so helpful, she’s always good at this, it’s not like she’s weak and foolish and pitiful for every thought running through her head right now.

Another scream. Amethyst’s cries grow louder. “Pearl!”

A blinding pink light blasts through the windows. It burns her eyes, but she keeps them open, and catches a glimpse through the shutter windows of Rose. One last picture. Then the light grows too bright and she can’t see anything but a rosy, pink fog swimming over her vision.

She wishes she was blind now, because living in a world with no more Rose is a fate worse than death.

The light dies down. She heard another kind of crying. Something infantile and soft. Then Greg’s choked laughter and sobs.

“Steven!”

Her hands grip the railing even tighter. The wood snaps under her fingers and her vision changes from pink to red to black. The anger and the sadness swallow her and she wants nothing more than to die.

Garnet and Amethyst have begun to focus on the inside of the house. Garnet has helped the younger Gem to her feet, a gentle hand on her shoulder for reassurance. Amethyst clings to her leg, just like she used to do with Pearl.

Now they don’t need her either.

Such an intense pain overcomes her, all she hears is a loud crack and her Gem splits and the fissures run through her whole body. All the pain of all the wars in history could not have prepared her for the pain she feels now.

She is not strong enough to fight this pain. Never could she hope to be strong enough to save Rose. She’s not even strong enough to save herself.

The rail snaps under her hands into millions of splinters. She is losing herself, the pain taking over, crushing her. Condensing her. Forming her back into a pearl. Forever, she hopes. If Rose is dead, there is no reason for her to live anymore.

Amethyst turns around when she hears it roll across the deck; the pearl tilts across the wood lazily and lands at her feet.

**Author's Note:**

> Some speculation on why Pearl had a regeneration take place between Greg meeting Rose and Steven's birth (curious about the other Gems, too, but this one is about Pearl specifically). Basically, Rose's death crushes Pearl so much that she literally has to regenerate to recover. Just a theory, but who knows?


End file.
